


Needle In a Haystack

by GoDownWithThisShip



Series: homo on the range [3]
Category: Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Albert Mason is a fun top, Bottom Arthur, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Kissing, M/M, Neck Kissing, Nothing Hurts, Outdoor Sex, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 03:24:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16653346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoDownWithThisShip/pseuds/GoDownWithThisShip
Summary: Arthur keeps seeking out his photographer friend and now he realizes why OR Albert and Arthur have mad chemistry and they finally do something about it





	Needle In a Haystack

**Author's Note:**

> big love to my tumblr pals who are all obsessed with this ship because I honest to GOD thought I was the only one but I'm so happy we're all loving these 2!!!

He’s not stalking the guy. At least, not on purpose. He rides through a dusty town turned muddy in the rain and stops for a drink. That’s when he ends up picking up a couple of exchanged words between the patrons at the next table. 

Hey, you seen that feller in the woods around here?   
Yeah, strange guy. What’s he up to?  
Dunno, but he’s got that camera pointed at something.

A little bit of questioning on Arthur’s part leads him to realize that there is in fact only one man in the country capable of being so incredibly dense and so incredibly committed as to run around trying to snap a couple of pictures of a predatory beast. He finishes his drink and is on his way. The patrons are only able to give him a vague direction to head in but it doesn’t take long before he can hear the familiar voice muttering in the trees. 

“No, no. Lighting is all wrong here. Maybe if I just adjust the shutter- No. Made it worse.”

He coaxes his horse through the brush and finds his old friend bent over his camera. “We gotta stop running into each other like this,” Arthur comments to announce his presence.

Albert straightens up and flashes him a smile that sends Arthur’s pulse racing. “Just the man I was hoping to see!”

“What’re you looking for this time?” Arthur asks as he hops down from his horse. He looks toward the large, bloody pile of scraps on the forest floor about ten yards away. “A bear?”

“No!” Albert assures him quickly. “At least- I hope not.” Albert adjusts his camera and frowns at the meat pile. “I’m hoping to get a good shot of a mountain lion.”

Arthur snorts and makes his way over to the man. “You mean a cougar?”

“Well-” The man shrugs. “Mountain lion sounds a bit more...fearsome don’t you think?”

“Cougars don’t need a fancy name to be fearsome,” Arthur warns. “They can be on you in a second and have your neck snapped in two.”

“Good thing I have you here to protect me,” Albert replies and goes back to gazing through his viewfinder. 

Arthur opens his mouth to protest but finds that he couldn’t deny it. That is in fact why he is there. It’s hard to explain why he feels the need to ride in every time he hears word of a crazy man off in the woods with a camera. But he just knows that if anything were to happen to his friend- at least he assumes they were friends- he would be overcome with guilt. And so he takes a knee and pulls the rifle off his back. 

He keeps glancing over at Albert fiddling with his camera. “You get any more pictures since I last saw ya?” Arthur asks. The silence isn’t uncomfortable, but he just likes hearing about the dumb shit Albert gets himself up to. 

“Nothing too exciting. Got a few good closeups of some Rattlesnakes. Even saw a snake gliding around atop a lake. Naturally I had to snap a few of that.”

“Naturally,” Arthur laughs. “Good to know I only catch you when you’re about to do something real stupid.”

“Shh!” Albert suddenly snaps to attention and points off to the distance. Arthur follows his finger and squints to make out a shifting form in the underbrush. 

“Here we go,” he mumbles and looks down the view of his rifle, keeping the shape in his sights. Sure enough, as the shadow emerges into the fading light of the evening, Arthur recognizes it as a cougar. “Not sure if you got the best or worst luck I ever seen,” he whispers to Albert.

Albert chuckles in response. “Steady now. I want to get a few good shots in before you blast the poor creature to smithereens.”

“Poor creature?” Arthur replies incredulously. “You really are a city feller, huh.”

Arthur isn’t sure if Albert is able to get the images he needs because as soon as the cougar happens upon the pile of meat, it must pick up their scent. He coulda sworn the air’s still today, but he must be wrong. A few rounds from his gun later and the beast is bleeding on the forest floor just a few feet from them. Albert sinks to the ground, gripping his chest and Arthur slings his gun over his back, “You alright?”

“This work is going to kill me for sure,” Albert replied.

Arthur gets to his feet and makes his way over, extending a hand to his friend. “C’mon. It ain’t so bad. At least this time the animal didn’t get too close, huh? Not like with those wolves.” 

Albert takes his hand and Arthur helps him to his feet. Albert brushes himself off before looking at Arthur with an odd expression on his face. “Better not let that animal go to waste,” he says slowly. “I was about to set up camp, would you like to cook it up? Maybe join me for supper?”

Arthur laughs. “So you want me to stay for dinner on the condition that I’m the one cooking?”

Albert shrugs. “It was worth a shot. I mean- I used the last of my rations trying to lure these beasts anyway. I figured it was a bit of a ride into town and it would be better if I just...live off the land for the night so it were-” he explains quickly.  
“I was just makin’ a joke,” Arthur lifts his hands up to placate his friend. “I’d love to stay for dinner. On the one condition that we camp somewhere...far from here. The stink of that meat’ll attract anything prowlin’ around a mile in any direction.”

Albert grins and again Arthur’s heartbeat quickens. Albert packs up his photography supplies while Arthur skins and breaks down the cougar’s corpse as best he can before the two of them ride off. The only sound for the short trip is their horses noisy hooves against dirt trail. They find a spot that’s secluded but up on a ridge so nothing can really sneak up on them. It takes about half an hour to set up a tent and get a fire going. 

“How many more animals do you gotta get pictures of before you get back to the city?” Arthur asks as the two of them rest beside the fire. He’s got a hunk of meat speared to the end of his knife and is slowly rotating it above the flames. The sun is already dipping below the rocky horizon and the fire casts a glow on the two of them.

“Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?” Albert replies with a chuckle. 

“No!” Arthur replies quickly. “Really, ‘s not that at all.”

“I’m kidding,” Albert assures him. “I’m not sure. When I’ve had enough of the rugged outdoors, I suppose.” 

The two of them feast on the fallen beast and exchange a few stories. Albert speaks of life in the city and Arthur’s stories carefully leave out the details where he murders and pillages. And by the time they are finished the stars are burning pinpoints in the dark sky and the crickets are singing their far off melodies. 

Arthur consults his pocket watch. “Time flies don’t it.”

 

“You don’t have to leave.” The tone of Albert’s voice is...urgent.

Arthur waves him off. “There ain’t no more animals for me to protect ya from. You don’t need me no more.”

There is a pause before Albert speaks. “Maybe it’s not...needing you around. Maybe I just like having you around.” His words are like footfalls in a minefield. Careful and calculated. “And maybe...you keep finding me- truly a needle in a haystack type scenario- because you want to be around.”

It feels like the wind has been knocked out of him as Arthur takes in what Albert says. He’s so used to people not wanting him around. Towns of people who run him out. Having someone- especially someone so earnest- tell him that he’s welcome...wanted? It’s unheard of.

“I’ve misread this whole thing...haven’t I?” Albert can’t take his eyes away from the fire. “Of course. Can’t do anything right.” He chastises himself quiet enough that Arthur can barely hear him.

“No-” Arthur instinctively reaches for him. His fingers find his shoulder and he gives it a squeeze. “I think you’ve hit the nail on the head.”

Albert’s hand falls on top of Arthur’s and he’s surprised at how soft it is. Not calloused and rough like the hands he’s used to. When Albert looks up at him, his brown eyes burn with more intensity than their campfire. “I have to confess,” Albert began before swallowing heavily and continuing, “That I have been thinking about kissing you for quite some time now.”

Before Arthur can even consider how to respond his mouth already formulates a reply. “Quit thinking and do it, then.”

Albert closes the gap between them and pressed his lips against Arthur’s. The kiss begins slowly, just the press of lips and the slight, electric brush of tongues. Arthur is taken aback as he feels Albert’s hand at the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

And all at once the shy pretense is gone and their lips are moving together with intensity. Albert’s mouth is hot and soft and it finds Arthur’s jaw and moves down his neck. He respositions himself, swinging one leg over Arthur to straddle his hips. One of his hands plants against Arthur’s chest and Arthur lets himself be pushed to the ground. 

Albert’s fingers are quick as they pop open the buttons of Arthur’s shirt one by one to reveal more skin for his mouth to explore. All Arthur can do is lie back and groan every time Albert’s teeth find a sensitive patch of skin. “Get this off,” he grumbles as his fingers untuck Albert’s shirt from his trousers. He needs to feel him- under his calloused palms...against his own skin.

He listens to Arthur’s request and takes a breath to sit up and unhook his suspenders and hurriedly lift his shirt. His body is all jutting bones and stringy muscles. Arthur takes the moment to quickly- and clumsily rip off his own shirt. Before he can do much else Albert is back on him, sliding his hands along Arthur’s own body. 

It’s been so long since he’s been touched like this and it’s dizzying. His own hands grip Albert’s hip as they start grinding together. The friction of fabric against his cock makes him moan into Albert’s mouth. Suddenly Albert pulls back and Arthur opens his eyes to look up at him. “What’s wrong?” he asks, tracing the line of Albert’s side with his fingertips.

Arthur shivers as if the evening air has suddenly hit him all at once. “What if someone sees us?”

“Sees us?” Arthur repeats incredulously. “I can almost promise you that it’s just us out here, Al.”

“Al,” Albert repeats with something resembling fondness in his voice. He pauses for a moment before nodding toward his shabby lean-to. “Let’s get under there, huh.”

“Whatever ya want darlin’.” Arthur lets himself get hauled up and pulled toward the tarp. Once they are settled out of plain sight Arthur opens his mouth to say something cocky but Albert’s lips are on him and all he can do is grunt into the kiss. 

Albert isn’t like anything Arthur has experienced before. Arthur is used to rough hands and sharp teeth. But Albert takes his time, his deft fingers stretch Arthur in a way that doesn’t hurt but instead has him whispering Albert’s name over and over. When he finally feels Albert’s cock inside of him, he could cry. The friction of each slide pushes him closer to the edge. When he feels Albert’s hand on his own cock and he knows it’s going to be over soon. It only takes a couple of strokes before Arthur finishes noisily with Albert close behind.

As they lay there, the sound of the world around them slowly filters back in. There’s the crackling of wood in the fire and the singing of crickets in the distance. And Arthur wishes that he could lay there forever.


End file.
